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Healthcare HR execs pay jumped significantly last year

Healthcare HR executives at S&P 500 companies were awarded a median $2.3 million in 2015, increasing from $1.5 million in 2014, according to a new report from Equilar and Allegis Partners.

The top human resources executives at such companies were awarded more than $1.6 million at the median in 2015, slightly down from the median compensation of $1.7 million in 2014.

The publication analyzed compensation data for the top-paid HR executives at their respective companies who served the entire fiscal year, including 748 individuals for fiscal year 2014 and 706 individuals for fiscal year 2015.

Dive Insight:
Overall, S&P 500 companies awarded a majority of compensation to their HR executives in long-term incentive (LTI) pay comprised largely of company equity, at 56%, the report found. Notably, the two highest-paying sectors also had the largest compensation mix in long-term incentives (LTI). The healthcare sector offered 62.8% of total compensation in LTI (27.2% in salary and annual target cash bonuses), the report found.

Even in HR, you can't escape the word "disruption" when referring to healthcare. “While the healthcare industry has been changing for decades, disruptive change is now the norm and is accelerating at an unprecedented rate,” Mike Bergen, managing partner, Allegis Partners U.S. and Global Practice Leader, Human Resources, said in a prepared statement.

Buzzwords aside, this quote touches on why HR healthcare professionals may be making such a large gain in the salary department. With regulations such as MACRA, ACA, the new FLSA overtime rule and others, there's a lot of information to sift through and understand which (and what parts) matter for a business. For example, a healthcare cybersecurity expert told Healthcare Dive this week that breaches in healthcare organizations could affect business relationships as the nature of business associate agreements are changing.